Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) Downgraded to Neutral at Bank of America

Bank of America lowered shares of Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports.

TEF has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Telefónica from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Telefónica from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, New Street Research downgraded Telefónica from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold.

Telefónica Price Performance

Shares of TEF stock traded down $0.01 on Friday, reaching $4.49. 718,034 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 823,461. Telefónica has a 12-month low of $3.71 and a 12-month high of $4.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $4.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.30.

Telefónica (NYSE:TEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. Telefónica had a positive return on equity of 9.18% and a negative net margin of 1.62%. The business had revenue of $11.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.96 billion. Research analysts forecast that Telefónica will post 0.35 EPS for the current year.

Telefónica Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.1628 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.2%. Telefónica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -143.75%.

Institutional Trading of Telefónica

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Telefónica during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Telefónica by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 128,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 11,429 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Telefónica during the 4th quarter worth about $137,000. Traveka Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Telefónica during the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV acquired a new position in shares of Telefónica during the 4th quarter worth about $1,200,000. Institutional investors own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

About Telefónica

Telefónica, SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company offers mobile and related services and products, such as mobile voice, value added, mobile data and internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services.